7 Questions That Determine Your MyCase AI Receptionist Quote

A MyCase AI receptionist quote becomes comparable when it identifies the usage, channels, integration actions, and implementation the firm is buying. The headline subscription is only one part of that scope.

Ask seven questions: what counts as an interaction, how duration affects cost, which channels are included, what happens in MyCase, what setup covers, which calls reach the service, and what changes the monthly bill. Use the answers to compare the same operating requirement across proposals.

This guide is for solo and small law firms already using MyCase. It does not provide an invented Clerx price floor or a universal cost-per-call benchmark. The purpose is a quote that describes both the invoice and the work completed for your team.

1. What counts as a billable interaction?

Start with the unit. Providers may quote calls, conversation minutes, interactions, or a configured service scope. Your call log is useful only when its count matches the proposed billing definition.

Ask how the vendor treats new prospects, existing clients, repeat callers, unsuitable inquiries, wrong numbers, spam, and calls that end quickly. Determine whether a transfer or follow-up creates another billable event. Do not assume a short call is free or that every repeat contact is charged twice.

A firm with 300 incoming calls does not necessarily have 300 new-prospect conversations. It may have many current-client and administrative calls. That mix affects both the configuration and the usage estimate.

Clerx AI reception handles different caller types according to the firm's rules. The quote should identify the selected scope and counting method. Ask for a plain-language definition you can use to reconcile an example month.

A cheaper headline subscription may fit a narrow requirement. It becomes misleading only when the firm compares different counting rules as if they were identical.

2. How does call duration affect the price?

A brief scheduling question and a careful intake conversation use different amounts of time. Give vendors a duration distribution rather than guessing one average that hides the longer calls.

For example, a fictional month might contain 60 short calls at two minutes, 90 routine calls at four minutes, and 30 longer calls at eight minutes. That totals 180 calls and 720 conversation minutes. These are illustrative inputs, not a prediction of your firm's calls or a vendor invoice.

Ask what the provider actually measures. Are there rounding rules? Is transfer time included? Are hold periods or outbound attempts treated differently? Which allowance and additional-usage rate apply to the proposed plan?

Use the same fictional or historical input for every quote. Do not turn a guessed duration multiplied by a headline rate into a supposedly verified comparison.

The Clerx pricing page uses a tailored-quote approach. Get the applicable current terms for your configuration instead of relying on a stale directory label or another firm's package.

3. Which communication channels are included?

Phone reception, website chat, and text messaging are related services, but they do not automatically belong to the same subscription. Define what the office wants now and what it may add later.

A firm whose staff answers calls reliably but leaves website inquiries unattended has a different need from an attorney missing calls while in court. The buying scope should follow the actual problem.

Review Clerx Website Chat and Clerx Text Messaging if those channels are relevant. Ask what usage, setup, and MyCase actions apply to each selected channel rather than assuming the phone configuration extends identically to messaging.

Also identify who handles unresolved conversations. A product list does not explain staff ownership, the approved response, or the next action when the prospect asks a question outside the configured scope.

A sensible initial quote may cover one channel well. A broader proposal may make sense when several channels currently create unfinished intake work. The number of products purchased is not a measure of implementation quality.

4. Which MyCase actions are included?

Ask the vendor to name the destination and action. “Integrates with MyCase” is a starting point, not a sufficient scope description.

The Clerx MyCase integration connects reception and intake with the firm's practice workflow. MyCase's official Clerx guide documents contacts, intake information, notes, consultation calendaring, and optional LawPay support.

Your proposal should explain which of those actions your firm will use. Where does a new inquiry appear? Where does the summary go? What happens for a current client? Who reviews incomplete information? Which account permissions and software prerequisites apply?

Use a demonstration rather than a feature checkbox. Ask to see the result for one new prospect and one returning caller. The MyCase repeat-caller guide explains why repeat calls deserve their own test.

Include any work left for staff in the comparison. A lower service fee may still be the right choice, but the owner should understand whether employees must recreate contacts, locate notes elsewhere, or complete appointment work manually.

5. What does implementation cover?

Implementation should make the service concrete. Identify who prepares screening questions, approves routine answers, configures consultation types, establishes transfer rules, connects MyCase, and checks the resulting records.

Ask what the setup fee includes and which work would require additional scope. A firm with one consultation type may need less configuration than a mixed estate-planning, probate, and family practice. The relevant difference is workflow complexity, not simply attorney count.

Define the firm's contribution too. Staff may need to provide hours, practice boundaries, consultation policy, and contacts for specific request types. A configured service still needs approved operational instructions from the firm.

The AI receptionist go-live testing guide provides a useful review framework. Confirm who runs the agreed scenarios and how issues are corrected before the selected call route is used.

Finally, ask about future changes. A new consultation fee, attorney, or practice area may affect the conversation, calendar, and MyCase handoff. Understand what routine support includes and when additional engineering or fees apply.

6. Which calls will reach the receptionist?

Primary answering, overflow, and after-hours coverage produce different usage estimates. Explain the desired routing arrangement before comparing prices.

A solo attorney may want selected calls answered while in consultations. A three-attorney office may have staff reception and want overflow during simultaneous inquiries. Another firm may begin with after-hours calls. Each is a real operating model to evaluate.

Ask who helps check the phone route, what happens if nobody at the firm answers a transfer, and how the office can change coverage. The call-forwarding and number-control guide explains the practical questions to settle.

Do not assume that an overflow configuration has a special price or that primary coverage necessarily requires replacing your phone system. Ask how the provider scopes the selected route.

Also define which calls should skip new-prospect intake. Courts, existing clients, and other professional contacts may need different staff paths. The new-lead versus existing-client routing guide helps distinguish those responsibilities.

7. What changes the monthly bill?

Request an expected-month estimate and a busy-month estimate using the same inputs across vendors. Include recurring service, additional usage, selected channels, required software, ongoing support, and deployment separately.

For paid consultations, review scheduling and payments. Clerx lets prospective clients schedule and pay for their consultation in one booking flow. Payment-processing charges and the firm's financial procedures should be considered separately from receptionist service fees.

Ask about billing periods, cancellation terms, changes in allowance, additional channels, and amendments to the configured workflow. Do not infer any of these terms from a promotional sentence.

A quote should make a busier month understandable. The owner should be able to identify which inputs changed and which rules produced the additional cost. That clarity matters even when the bill remains affordable.

Avoid a false comparison between a self-serve tool and a completed managed implementation. If your office would need to build or maintain the first option, identify that work explicitly rather than counting it as free.

Turn the answers into one comparable brief

Send every provider the same short scope: current MyCase environment, actual practice mix, desired route, estimated call and duration mix, selected channels, consultation policy, and required record outcomes.

Name any priority working languages and the person who will review them. Explain your team's availability for transfers without implying that provider-supplied human reception is required or included.

Then compare the written responses. Mark what is included, what is optional, what needs demonstration, and what remains with staff. A proposal does not need the longest feature list to be a strong fit.

Consider a fictional Michigan solo immigration firm with staff entering calls into MyCase and sending paid-consultation instructions manually. Its useful purchasing question is whether the proposed service completes those tasks under the firm's rules. It is not whether the product has the largest number of integrations.

Review value without promising savings

The price decision should include completed work. Track the staff steps remaining after calls, clarity of intake, appropriate consultations booked, and correction effort. Use the firm's own data to assess whether the service is worthwhile.

A hypothetical calculation can identify a decision threshold, but it cannot establish revenue caused by reception. If you model additional consultations, separate bookings, attendance, accepted matters, collected fees, and service costs.

A small improvement may be valuable for a lean team, especially when it makes existing demand easier to serve. The evidence should come from observed work rather than a universal savings claim.

Choose the quote whose scope and commercial rules you can explain. That makes implementation easier and gives the firm a practical basis for reviewing the service later.

Ask the vendor to walk through one example invoice using the agreed assumptions. The exercise should identify each charge and the contractual rule behind it. That practical explanation is more useful than a promise of predictable costs without a clear definition of usage, included work, and the busy-month scenario.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a MyCase AI receptionist cost?

There is no single price for every configuration. Compare current quotes using the same usage, channels, MyCase actions, implementation, and support requirements.

Does MyCase compatibility mean the integration is included?

Not necessarily. Confirm the selected product, plan, actions, prerequisites, and any setup charges in the written proposal.

Can we estimate using last month's call log?

Yes. Add duration and caller-type information where available, then align the sample with each provider's billable-unit definition.

Is a per-call quote always cheaper than minutes?

No. The result depends on actual volume, durations, allowances, counting rules, and scope. Compare the same workload.

Are website chat and SMS automatically included?

Do not assume so. Ask which channels, usage, implementation, and integration actions are part of the quote.

Does after-hours coverage require a different number?

The answer depends on the configured phone route. Confirm forwarding, number control, and transfer behavior with the provider and your phone service.

How are consultation payments handled?

For the configured Clerx journey, scheduling and payment happen in one booking flow. Review LawPay setup and transaction costs separately from reception fees.

Is the cheapest quote the wrong choice?

No. It can be the strongest fit when it includes the work your firm needs and the remaining staff responsibilities are understood.

Book a demo with Clerx today.